78 Choose Your Hard Quotes to Motivate You

Life is an intricate combination of blissful and difficult moments strung together into one exciting whole. It is unrealistic to expect a smooth, happily-ever-after life where everything you touch turns to gold!

Each of us must bear our crosses. And depending on the path we choose, our choice today can make us better or worse tomorrow.

Like many social media users, you may have seen a meme that reads:

“Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard. Obesity is hard. Being fit is hard. Choose your hard. Being in debt is hard. Being financially disciplined is hard. Choose your hard. Communication is hard. Not communicating is hard. Choose your hard. Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard. Pick wisely.”

While the meme’s author isn’t exactly known, the message is correct to a large extent.

There’s always more than one choice for every important thing we want to accomplish in life. We can take the easy way out and enjoy instant gratification that usually doesn’t last. On the other hand, we can choose to stare down fear, pain, and discomfort to gain lasting satisfaction.

If the latter is something you’re up for, here are 80 choose your hard quotes to help you work harder on your self-discipline, career, marriage, and physical fitness. These motivational quotes can also help you get through the tough times with a more positive attitude.

Choose Your Hard Quotes to Help You Work Harder

1. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
2. “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln
3. “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
4. “Everything is hard, but you choose your hard. You don’t choose whether or not you’ll suffer, but you do choose what you want to suffer for.” – Brianna Weist
5. “Do not whine, do not complain, work harder, and spend more time alone.” – Joan Didion
6. “If he knew one thing about life, it was this: look out for yourself. No one else would do it for you. If you were cheated or tricked, it was your own fault, and a lesson best learned before the world devoured you.” – Kelley Armstrong
7. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” – Tim Notke
8. “A year from now, you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb
9. “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
10. “When you encounter obstacles, don’t turn your back on them. Face them, confront them, and you will see them dissolving in front of your eyes.” – Dr. Roopleen
11. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee
12. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
13. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon
14. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou
15. “Choose to focus on one task and that task only. Then do the next thing.” – Unknown
16. “You cannot control the behavior of others, but you can always choose how you respond to it.” – Roy T. Bennett
17. “Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” – Coco Chanel
18. “Nothing in life that’s worth anything is easy.” – Barack Obama
19. “However hard life is, deep in our hearts we know that it is worth to continue till the end.” – Mehmet Murat ildan
20. “Without hustle, talent will only carry you so far.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
21. “No matter how hard you work, someone else is working harder.” – Elon Musk
22. “The biggest weapon of billions of people against the difficulties of life is ‘the desperation solutions’ that sadden humanity instead of ‘real solutions’ that suit human dignity.” – Mehmet Murat ildan
23. “A sign of a hard worker is one who works without complaint.” – Sarah Price
24. “If you’re changing the world, you’re working on important things, you’re excited to get up in the morning.” – Larry Page
25. “The harder life is for a man when he is young, the easier it will be in the future.” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
26. “Our goodness is our wealth, and when we close our eyes to the tragedies of the hard lives, we start losing our wealth.” – Mehmet Murat ildan
27. “The path that leads to triumph is long, tedious, and crooked.” – Michael Bassey Johnson

Never Give Up on Your Goals

These choose your hard quotes will keep you motivated to overcome obstacles and maintain positive thinking while working to reach your goals.

28. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy
29. “Life is going to beat you up; it wouldn’t be fair if you didn’t throw some punches back at it.” – Bradley Bowman
30. “Life without obstacles removes the opportunity for growth.” – Chad E. Foster
31. “Achieving success is a challenge, but so is struggling, so you may as well choose success.” – Rob Liano
32. “Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” – Roger Crawford
33. “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” – Henry Ford
34. “To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.” – T. F. Hodge
35. “If you quit on the process, you are quitting on the result.” – Idowu Koyenikan
36. “Worry never accomplishes anything. When you have a problem, it is best to concentrate on the solution to that problem, not the problem itself.” – Thomas D. Willhite
37. “The best way to treat obstacles is to use them as stepping-stones. Laugh at them, tread on them, and let them lead you to something better.” – Enid Blyton
38. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” – Molière
39. “You have to conquer every obstacle before you can reach the top of the mountain.” – Lailah Gifty Akita
40. “Our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant, and to face the challenge of change.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
41. “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein
42. “The strength of your obstacle determines the weight of your potential. The greater your potential, the heavier your dunamis power must be.” – Israelmore Ayivor
43. “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan
44. “Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember, the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.” – Zig Ziglar
45. “Life throws challenges, and every challenge comes with rainbows and lights to conquer it.” – Amit Ray
46. “You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you have to overcome to reach your goals.” – Booker T. Washington
47. “Obstacles are weak walls without foundations; if you fear them, they will defeat you. But the fact is that they are even afraid of you. So why frightened?” – Israelmore Ayivor
48. “In order to defeat our challengers and rise above every obstacle, we must be able to persevere.” – Ellen J. Barrier
49. “The limiting factor on your success is not the size of the obstacles, but the size of your dream.” – Orrin Woodward
50. “Man needs obstacles to get matured!” – Mehmet Murat ildan

Working On Your Marriage

Marriage is blissful, but you must constantly work at it to make it so. I’ve carefully handpicked the following choose your hard quotes to help you put the necessary effort into making your marriage (or relationship) blissful.

51. “So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, every day. You and me… every day.” – Nicholas Sparks
52. “Marriage stands the test of time when both you and your spouse work towards making things better. And we are tested the most when we face adversities. If you can sail through the adversities as one, as a team, then you have won half the battle.” – Unknown
53. “A great marriage is not when the ‘perfect couple’ comes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences.” – Dave Meurer
54. “True love stands by each other’s side on good days and stands closer on bad days.” – Unknown
55. “Being happy doesn’t mean you’re perfect. It just means you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” – K. B. Indiana
56. “For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
57. “Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.” – Alice Morse Earle
58. “You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” – Epicurus
59. “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.” – Zig Ziglar
60. “Make sure you are responding to the present moment and not reacting to something from your past that the current situation reminds you of.” – Maryam Hasnaa
61. “Marriage is not a noun; it’s a verb. It isn’t something you get. It’s something you do. It’s the way you love your partner every day.” – Barbara De Angelis

Choose Your Hard Quotes for Health and Physical Fitness

Stuffing your face with food is not exactly easy, especially if you have eating anxiety. Being deliberate about what to eat and when to eat is also hard.

Slouching on the couch might seem easy, but it makes you fat, lazy, and sickly. Signing up for a gym class and committing to your workout routine is hard.

Bottom line: you must choose your hard.

If you choose to stay fit, remember that your workout habits are intricately linked to your personality, so make sure to choose physical exercises that resonate with who you really are.

The following quotes will help you commit to your workout plan.

62. “All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.” – Michael John Bobak
63. “The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
64. “Food, like your money, should be working for you.” – Rita Deattrea Beckford
65. “Diets, like clothes, should be tailored to you.” – Joan Rivers
66. “The clock is ticking. Are you becoming the person you want to be?” – Greg Plitt
67. “It’s not just about losing the weight; it’s about losing the lifestyle and mindset that got you there.” – Steve Maraboli
68. “Being defeated is only a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.” – Marilyn Vos Savant
69. “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
70. “If you want to reach a goal, you must see the reaching in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.” – Zig Ziglar
71. “Motivation is what gets you started; habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun
72. “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” – Vince Lombardi Jr.
73. “If you think lifting is dangerous, try being weak. Being weak is dangerous.” – Bret Contreras
74. “A champion is someone who gets up when they can’t.” – Jack Dempsey
75. “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.” – John Wooden
76. “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” – Thomas Jefferson
77. “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
78. “Most people fail, not because of lack of desire, but because of lack of commitment.” – Vince Lombardi

Final Thoughts

Nothing is easy, especially if it is worthwhile. But whatever you do, don’t tiptoe through life.

Here’s why.

Those who dare to risk temporary discomfort and those who played it safe will all make it safely to death. But those who dare often have great benefits, so choose your hard wisely.